All that is needed to make a Lil' Loom is a wine cork and 2 push pins.

Poke the 2 push pins next to each other into one side of the cork.

I purchased these little Color Loops Weave Kits (which includes a little plastic crochet hook) for $1 each at a dollar store. A package of 300 rubber bands with some clips was $2 at a beauty store. And I picked up a stackable 7-day organizer for $5 at a drug store.

We found that glass baby food jars make great storage containers for the different colors of rubber bands.

We made an 'on the go' version for traveling on the school bus, in the car, because weaving rubber band bracelets can be done anywhere. The clear 'c' clips are stored in the clear compartment and the colored rubber bands are stored in the matching colored compartment, then we took larger rubber bands to wrap the Lil' Loom and mini plastic crochet hook around the stackable organizer.

After watching a video on YouTube, creating a fishtail rubber band bracelet is really quick and easy.Happy rubber band bracelet making!

Monday, November 18, 2013

A project that 1st graders do at our church is work together as a family and create a simple Christmas Crèche (crèche is the French word for cradle). To keep with the simplicity of the story of the birth of Jesus, families are encouraged to use simple materials, for example, items that can be easily found around the house. Ours is all done and ready to go to church to be blessed with holy water by our priest.

scraps of beige yarn (leftovers from a knitted sweater and bunny, for the hay in the manger)

cardboard tube (for manger)

cardboard box (packaging from a doll my daughter got, for the stable)

cardboard circle from a frozen pizza (for the base)

hot glue gun

A very quick explanation on how to make one of the figures… cut out a piece of wool felt to wrap all of the way around a cork, attach it to a cork with a hot glue gun. To attach the wood bead to the cork, put a nail through a wood bead and push the nail into a cork. Baby Jesus was half of a cork and for the animals the wood bead and nail were put into the side of the cork. All of the figures stay in place thanks to the hot glue gun, so nothing will move or tip over.

The only thing I bought were the wood beads which were a couple of dollars. Otherwise everything else came from around the house, from our stash of craft supplies, items that could be found in a recycling bin, etc.

All of the 1st grade nativity scenes will decorate the tables as centerpieces in our church's community room during Advent. After that ours will come back home to stay.

Happy 790th anniversary of the Christmas crèche! It was 790 years ago when St Francis of Assisi staged the first nativity scene back in 1223.

Monday, November 11, 2013

I had been wanting to make this doll for months, so it feels good to have finally made it.

The pattern and instructions came from the book We Make Dolls! Top Dollmakers Share Their Secrets & Patterns by Jenny Doh. It's called Red Riding Hood and was designed by Suse Bauer.

It was so nice that all of the supplies (fabric, felt, button, embroidery floss, stuffing) were basic, you know, what most crafty people already have on hand, so all of these came from my stash and no need for a trip to the craft/fabric store.

One thing I really liked about this craft book is that the pattern didn't need to be enlarged so I didn't have to make a trip to the copy machine.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Just a quick announcement today to share that there is a super fun new handmade children's clothing series coming up just around the corner. It's called the 12 Days of Christmas and is being hosted by Suz of Sewpony and Laura of Craftstorming.

Sewists from all around the world will be contributing, offering inspiration for sewing children's holiday garments, it will also be fun to learn other peoples Christmas traditions.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Are you thinking about and planning for Christmas? I know I already am. Maybe this photo tour of the Bachman's Holiday 13 Ideas House will offer you some inspiration. This time around the theme is "A Cozy, Contemporary Nordic Celebration"… simplicity, a clean white or ivory slate with layers of fresh green and traditional reds… Northern European influences, metallic accents, natural driftwood pieces...

Birch branch used as ornament hanger, jewelry holders made from birch rounds

Christmas tree accented with copper wire

My favorite room in this house is the girl's bedroom with a soft turquoise and white winter wonderland fairy theme (I could stare at it all day long!), stuffed reindeer, galvanized wash basin used as tree base holder, framed fairy hanging as ornament, gift wrapping embellished with decorative tape